Once a Toa
by Scruff the Rat
Summary: "Once a Toa, always a Toa..." How could Aqua possibly even be familiar with the word? She was a Keyblade wielder. Had been for the majority of her life...right? GalixOnua, slight AquaxTerra


**Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Nomura. Bionicle belongs to LEGO. I only own this multi-shot.**

* * *

_A steep, stone cliff towered high above a roaring, foaming ocean as a lone cobalt figure gazed at the endless, aquatic horizon. Darkness reigned as it blanketed the scene in a perpetual gloom of cumulonimbus clouds that threatened to press the warrioress down under its great weight. Ah, but this heroine had faced dangers far more imposing than mere storms. Besides, what were waves and precipitation to a being whose powers practically had the waters dancing at her fingertips?_

_So without a moment of hesitation, the watery maiden gripped her clawed hooks then took a running start to the edge of the cliff. Thunder illuminated the scene as she executed a perfect backflip in mid-air, posing herself to land feet-first into the ocean._

_Her graceful entry went unheard in the combined bellowing of sky and sea..._

* * *

Deep blue eyes shot open to reality as their owner did likewise, a light gasp escaping her light pink lips. The young blunette swiveled her head around frantically for only a second or two before realizing her surroundings were still the same—a bittersweet fact, to say the least.

For about the millionth time since landing in the Realm of Darkness, Keyblade Master Aqua released a heavy, wistful sigh. _'How long have I been trapped here?'_

She just knew she'd past the ten year mark by now—at least as far as she could tell, considering this realm's time-lost orientation—but she wasn't too sure if these dreams (or better yet hallucinations) should have been part of the deal.

Ever since her sacrifice to rescue her possessed friend Terra from being eternally snatched away by the shadows, Aqua had wandered continuously through this endless land of darkness, the inhabitants more than eager for an opportunity to pierce their wickedly sharp claws into her pale flesh. Indeed, the wary blunette had long ago lost track of how many of the mysterious inky-black creatures she had already vanquished during her emotionally agonizing imprisonment.

Her worst enemy, however, had been the ongoing isolation. Up until encountering the robed figure, Aqua, as far as she _thought_ she knew, was the only actual, living thing in this accursed world, save for all the shadow beings. Not even so much as bacteria dwelled here natively.

"Are these visions, then, a sign of me losing my mind?" If the darkness around her held an answer, it didn't share.

Aqua stretched her legs out on the soft, metallic gray, fine-grained sand, waves of the realm's seemingly endless ocean licking away at the shore, almost reaching her armor-clad feet. Funny, lately she'd found herself feeling a bit more at ease than usual, considering her ongoing situation.

"Perhaps...or maybe...they are signs." There lay no need for Aqua to seek the source of the deep, booming voice: the man in the black coat. Having met him some time ago, the keyblader thought she'd be overjoyed at the prospect of finally meeting a sentient being not native to this twisted land of shadow. Alas, her suspicions proved that prospect wrong for the most part. The man, though of benign heart, had long been losing his memory ever since he arrived in the realm. Names, places, events, and faces—everything had become a blur, practically a miasma, to him, even his own identity.

However, there was _one_ memory that was still fairly clear to him: a boy with a key. That boy, in spite of all the strife and darkness, strove and struggled to protect those dear to him—and succeeded in the end…twice in fact.

Now...Now, he would have to begin a search, a search to locate and heal all the unfortunate hearts still sad and hurting. _'All the pieces lie where they fell.' _Aqua bit back a small smile, not yet ready to put _all_ her faith in the young hero. After all, he still had a long way to go to becoming a true Master.

'_Even so, though, at least it's __**something**__.'_ After all, Aqua had been trapped in the ebony far too long to take such news for granted.

But now back to the issue at hand—these absurd visions...

The blunette shifted her vision from the water to the shrouded face of her companion, shaking her head. "No, signs are glimpses a person has of the future. These dreams are more like..."

"Of the past...?" Though his face remained obscured by the hood, Aqua could easily imagine the man raising his eyebrows in mild interest. She couldn't blame him, actually; after all, _she_ was quite fascinated in these strange happenings herself, as a matter of fact.

"Of—," Aqua scrunched her face up, thinking of a way to better elaborate, "Whenever I have them, I feel like someone else." She lifted her gaze to the moonlit horizon, her reminiscence as deep as the black ocean. "Another person in another time in another place, all of which have nothing to do with me besides the fact that the only thing I have in common with the person I become is that we're both affiliated with water somehow..."

Robed Man tilted his head. "Is there anything else you can recall of this person?"

Aqua sighed—deeply and slowly. "Only her name..."

"Which is...?"

A name—that much she _could_ offer.

"Gali."

* * *

"_I am sorry, my sister."_

_The water maiden turned her shimmering golden eyes on her ebony-clad companion. Unlike the other Toa, who were most likely back in the jungle clearing, no doubt __**still **__arguing their heart crystals out, Onua had taken upon himself the task of checking the flustered water maiden._

_In all honesty, Gali, much to her already ignited chagrin, felt very torn as far as her emotions were concerned. On one side, she couldn't deny a touch of irritation at the fact of being interrupted during her "cooling down" moments. _

'_**Ugh, must Tahu be as scalding as the lava flows he commands?' **__That crimson personification of machismo—how dare he say such statements about her element! He might as well have taken a personal stab at her Matoran! So what if water wasn't an element viewed in the same way as fierce fire, roaring wind, bone-rattling ice, hard, raw stone, or rumbling earth? Obviously, __**someone **__needed a lesson in just how fearsome the oceans can be._

'_**N-no!'**__ Gali chided herself, sighing deeply as she did. What on Mata Nui was wrong with her? Out of all the Toa, she was always the one being calm and clear in mind, just like the waters of the East Garden. She should have known better, therefore, than to be entertaining such temperamental thoughts. After all, tantrums were more of—_

_Once again, Gali had to sigh; she'd rather not think of Tahu right now._

_Or of the other Toa for that matter…in one way or another, they, too, whether intentionally or not, had ways of just irking her sense of tranquil. _

_Lewa and his childishly short attention span, Kopaka and his insistence on being alone…Pohatu and Onua, granted, were far more tolerable in Gali's perspective, but there were times when—yes, just as Kopaka said—Pohatu's skull could be just as hard to penetrate as the stone he controls._

_And Onua…_

_Well…the water maiden couldn't say—and not just because of the earth warrior's near constant silence. Even though she wished he'd be more vocal at times—especially when arguments between the Toa erupted—Gali, nonetheless, like with her frustration towards her teammates' insistent squabbling, could never find the will to disregard Onua's voluntary quietude. Indeed, to remain non-verbose is no simple task. So many emotions had the ability to influence a person to utter something that might end up being regretted further down the road. Even Gali herself was guilty of such moments, moments of when her words followed her feelings rather than her mind and betrayed her reputed serene demeanor._

_Thus, an admiration and respect for the silent warrior always dwelled in Gali whenever she would talk with, fight by, or even just think about him…the __**other**__ reason why she felt so internally conflicted at the moment._

_Yelling certainly would not yield pleasant results; besides, all Onua was doing was being considerate. Gali had to give him __**that**__ much at least._

_She pinched the bridge of her masked noise, addressing her dark companion with a resigned and even tone. "The fault is not yours alone to bear, brother. We must __**all**__ share in the guilt. For all the power our new forms have given us, we ourselves are bested time and time again by our very own tempers."_

'_**It's almost as if we've learned nothing at all from all our experiences. Are we **__**that**__**resistant to change?'**_

_Gali lightly gasped and temporarily hardened at the unexpected feeling of a rough hand on her left shoulder. She shot a glance over said shoulder to discover Onua giving her the warmest smile she had ever seen anyone give her. Instantaneously, all the dominant tension she had been fighting a second ago dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind a familiar and well-welcomed sense of peace. Before the water maiden could become conscious of herself, a small smile sneaked its way onto her face._

_Right…Onua also had a way of calming the atmosphere…another reason Gali felt so attached to him—even more so than she did to the other Toa._

* * *

"Aqua!"

A mildly squeaky yet dignified-sounding voice rang through the blunette's ears, startling her out of her daydream (or hallucination?) and returning her to reality at hand. All around the extremely long table of Disney Castle's expansive dining room, multitude upon multitude of eyes stared at Aqua, emotions ranging from puzzlement to annoyance to concern.

Most prominent, however, proved to be the worried expression of a certain mouse king, as well as those of a few others—some of them Keybladers. Mickey craned his head as though he was a doctor checking for a hidden symptom. "Aqua, is something wrong?"

The flustered water maiden produced a beam that she hoped to be convincing enough and waved her hands dismissively. Of all the places for her "visions" to bother her, why did it have to be here? "Oh, it's nothing, your Majesty. I just dozed off for a second."

The miniature mouse king frowned even more as his eyebrows knitted themselves together. "Are you sure? It looked like you were thinking real hard about something."

Now was neither the proper time nor the proper place. _'I can't risk anyone thinking I've gone delusional!'_ "Really, everyone, I'm fine! Anyway, what were you saying, your Majesty?"

* * *

"_Oh come on, Kopaka!" a certain bronze Toa pleaded, his claws clasped together in further desperation. He attempted the best "sad-eyes" he could do, making sure to look extra misty-eyed and adorable._

_His icy glacier of a brother was not moved. His impassive stare and crossed arms spoke for him before his frowning mouth did. "No."_

"_Please? Just consider it a favor, a break from all the world-saving!"_

"_No."_

"_Not even if it's just for a few minutes...?"_

"_No."_

"_Not even for two seconds?"_

_Kopaka remained in silence this time. Pohatu's arms and hands comically dropped to the side. In a point-blank voice, "It's the same answer as before, isn't it?"_

"_Yes." A raised eye-ridge proved all the emotion Kopaka wished to grant his sepia counterpart at the moment._

_The Toa of Stone stared at him for one more second before slapping a claw to his own masked face. "Every time…"_

_Neither of them noticed the blue water maiden in the distance, silently giggling at their antics. "Those two are, by far, the most unlikely pair of Toa I've ever seen."_

* * *

"Aqua, what's done is done. There's no point in brooding over what can't be changed."

The blunette sighed, looking up at the silver-haired young man who had just spoken from atop the Paopu tree branch. His stern glare and frown indicated no room for argument (not that Aqua was ever one to argue—much anyway).

She nodded after a moment and displayed a half-hearted smile. "You're right."

All of a sudden, an unforeseen arm draped across Aqua's shoulders, mildly startling the blunette but soon being ignored and pardoned as soon as she caught sight of the familiar grin, spiky brown hair, and twinkling blue eyes. "Yeah, besides, with me _and _Riku up and awake, there's no way we can lose!"

"Famous last words...," Riku sarcastically uttered under his breath. Sora caught the words, all the same. The spiky-haired brunette let his arm drop from Aqua's shoulders then fixed a mock glower on his mullet-haired friend.

"Hey, I was being serious!"

Riku smirked. "So was I."

Aqua merely rolled her eyes and strongly resisted the urge to chuckle.

* * *

"_Onua...!"_

_Never had the water Toa ever seen her comrade so...enraged! Even Tahu, the fiercest of the warriors, appeared taken back! One armor-clad fist to the chin of an overconfident Reidak—yes, they had all expected something of that nature. His attempt to rescue an injured Gali, whose left leg had been mortally wounded by a surprise attack by one of the cowardly Piraka—they had been expecting that, too. What they __**didn't**__ expect was the savage light in Onua's midnight verdant eyes or even his slight growl._

_The impassioned earth warrior faced his comrades, a haughty smirk on his countenance. "Are you all gonna just stand there or we are gonna give these creeps the beatdown of the millennium?"_

_No one responded as Onua marched off. Before long, though, Tahu broke the silence with a hearty, gruff laugh. "Now you're talking my language!"_

_Lewa blinked his lime-green pupils in dumbstruck disbelief, sticking a thumb at the two Toa and whispering to the others, "Methinks earth-brother has been around the fire-slinger for one moon too many..."_

_Gail could only giggle at her windy companion's comment. She actually found the ebony-clad warrior's aggression to be admirable...attractive even. She shook her head of last thought. __**'No, it's admirable. That's all I find it to be: admirable.'**_

_She desperately wished the feeling of lying to her own self would cease soon._

* * *

Aqua giggled as well, noticing all too well the similarities between this Onua character and her own earth-shaker, who was still out there, lost in the shadows and awaiting rescue.

'_He's no Tahu. That's for sure, but he's still got as much of a temper as Terra.'_

The young master had long ceased to feel annoyed by her visions of Gali's life. In fact, the aquatic maiden actually grew to expect—sometimes even enjoy—the scenes playing out in her sleep. In a way, it was kind of like watching an epic story not too dissimilar to hers. Even more, the bravery these Toa demonstrated had proven to be quite the motivation for Aqua to push on in _her_ quest to rescue her friends and help eliminate the threat of Xehanort once and for all.

* * *

_She could not believe her sunlit colored eyes. A Tengoku Blossom lay right there in Onua's massive hands, the sky blue petals nearly becoming translucent at their tips, lilac leaves stemming out from beneath like velveteen hands cradling the frail beauty in their grasp. _

"_Brother...what is the meaning of this?" Her words carried neither outrage nor disgust. She simply struggled to fathom the reason for him presenting her with something so...gorgeous. Gali honestly believed she was unworthy of the angel-named flora; she had an easier time picturing Onua giving this flower to someone of high-ranking...like an empress or priestess._

_Not her—not a mere everyday soldier—the Turaga could glorify the name of Toa for the benefit of history all they wished (not that Gali essentially had a problem with that), but the truth was that Toa were almost as plentiful as Matoran...especially after the Toa Nuva discovered the presence of other Matoran groups beyond Mata Nui's borders._

_For all her positive traits, Gali could sometimes be too modest and humble for her own good. _

_Onua believed otherwise as far as the blossom was involved. "A gift...if you'll have it..."_

_And have it she surely would, regardless of her awe-induced stupor; the azure warrioress gently accepted the flower, the rough, callous hands of the earth Toa slipping it into her smaller, dainty ones. Gali gazed at the flower with tender emotion before attempting one last time, out of self-assurance rather than insistent denial, to nudge sense into her companion. "Onua...you didn't have to—"_

_A kiss to the lips was all Onua needed to send his mermaid into kind and well-intentioned silence, his hands, coarse and strong from numerous years of burrowing through their native element, grasping her shoulders in a firm yet gentle hold._

"_You're right. I wanted to. I thought it'd suit you."_

* * *

And nothing else—the visions ceased after that scene.

Aqua, for the life of her, understood, right from the first time the sequences appeared to her, that the visualizations, like a beloved movie, would eventually end. The exposition came, the plot—with its twists and turns, victories and losses, battles and mysteries, heroes and villains, all conjoined by one great climax—following in anticipated obedience, and, last but not least, the resolution necessary to conclude and signal off the tale shared with countless unknown, their knowledge of the events told, whether for mere fancy or deeper understanding, preserved through mere existence.

All the same, the blunette frowned in sadness—even shed a tear—at the reality known only to her. She would miss Gali and her patchwork group of friends, even if the Keyblader may very likely never receive the opportunity to meet the biomechanical beings one day.

But Aqua still had her memories. She still had her heart, full of the joy, happiness, comfort, and love that intertwined amongst the darkness endured and defied time and time again by the Toa of Water and her allies.

Especially the love.

"Thank you, Onua," Aqua whispered to the slumbering waves. Midnight bathed both them and her figure in its navy hue, only the metal of the female Master's armor and boots glinting in the dark.

She would never, _never_ forget.

* * *

**The ending is a tad weak, but I intend to finish the stories that I have waiting in the wings. **


End file.
